The Verge

The Pixelbook Go will be the last of Google’s laptops, it seems. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Google has canceled the next version of its Pixelbook laptop and dissolved the team responsible for building it. The device was far along in development and expected to debut next year, according to a person familiar with the matter, but the project was cut as part of recent cost-cutting measures inside of Google. Members of the team have been transferred elsewhere inside the company.As recently as a few months ago, Google was planning to keep the Pixelbook going. Ahead of its annual I/O developer conference, Google hardware chief Rick Osterloh told The Verge that “we are going to do Pixelbooks in the future.” But he also acknowledged that the Chromebook market has changed since 2017 when the original (and best) Pixelbook launched.... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Tesla prides itself on its cybersecurity protections, particularly the elaborate challenge system that protects its cars from conventional methods for attacking the remote unlock system. But now, one researcher has discovered a sophisticated relay attack that would allow someone with physical access to a Tesla Model Y to unlock and steal it in a matter of seconds.The vulnerability — discovered by Josep Pi Rodriguez, principal security consultant for IOActive — involves what’s called an NFC relay attack and requires two thieves working in tandem. One thief needs to be near the car and the other near the car owner, who has an NFC keycard or mobile phone with a Tesla virtual key in their pocket or purse.Near-field communication keycards... Continue reading…

Bonnie Ross has been part of 343 Industries since it was established. | Image: 343 Industries Bonnie Ross, the corporate vice president of Halo developer 343 Industries, will be leaving the studio, Ross announced on Monday.“While I had hoped to stay with Halo until we released the Winter Update, I am letting you know I will be leaving 343 and attending to a family medical issue,” she said in a tweet. “I am incredibly proud of the work everyone at 343 Industries has done with Halo Infinite, the Master Chief Collection, the Halo television series and so much more.”

Daniel Craig returns as Benoit Blanc in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. | Image: Netflix An early spoiler-free review of the sequel Continue reading…

Leaked renders of the OnePlus 11 Pro show a rounded camera and the return of the alert slider | Image: OnLeaks / Smartpix / OnePlus Leaked renders of the anticipated OnePlus 11 Pro have been shared online by Smartprix (in collaboration with OnLeaks), showing a new circular camera housing and the return of the iconic alert slider. These renders appear to be based on an early prototype of the OnePlus 11 Pro, so the design might not reflect the final product, but it does give us some idea of what to expect when the phone releases sometime in 2023.A feature that was removed in the recently released OnePlus 10T is a Hasselblad-endorsed camera. If these renders are to be believed, the OnePlus 11 Pro camera will once again bear the Hasselblad name, though there is a chance that this could be the last OnePlus flagship handset to collaborate with the Swedish camera... Continue reading…

Burned structures after the Mosquito Fire blanketed the area in flames in Volcanoville, California, on September 11th, 2022 | Photo by Tayfun Coskun / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images The Biden administration launched a new website last week that maps the mess climate change is making across the US. From broiling heat to destructive floods, the new Climate Mapping for Resilience and Adaptation (CMRA) website paints a picture in data of the disasters coming to Americans’ doorsteps. It’s also supposed to help local policymakers and their constituencies see how they might need to adapt in the coming decades.The portal dives into five key threats exacerbated by climate change: extreme heat, drought, wildfire, inland flooding, and coastal inundation. Once you scroll past the website’s national map, you’ll find an interactive tool that zooms in on local impacts. Plug in a particular address, and you can pull up data... Continue reading…

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Apple is releasing its latest iOS 16 operating system for compatible iPhones today. The free update includes a new lock screen with widgets, unsend and edit for iMessage, new keyboard haptics, a new Home app, and much more. iPadOS won’t be updated to version 16 today, though, as that will ship later as an iPadOS 16.1 release.The lock screen is where most of the obvious improvements in iOS 16 can be seen. You can now add widgets to the lock screen, and they can act like a way of presenting notifications. On iPhone 14 Pro models, these widgets will even appear when the device is off thanks to a new always-on display.If you’re a daily iMessage user, then there are a variety of improvements with iOS 16 to keep you happy. You can now edit... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Google has completed its acquisition of Mandiant, bringing a major name in cybersecurity under the tech giant’s ever-growing umbrella.The $5.4 billion acquisition, announced in March, was completed on Monday, according to a Google press release. Per details in the release, Mandiant will keep its own brand while operating under the Google Cloud branch of its new parent company. Google Cloud is the cloud computing platform offered by Google and provides cloud computing and data storage infrastructure for other companies to build products on top of.Mandiant is best known for uncovering the SolarWinds hack, a massive Russia-linked breach that compromised US government agencies including the departments of Homeland Security, State, Defense,... Continue reading…

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 is currently discounted to its lowest price ever | Photo by Dieter Bohn / The Verge The internet is still buzzing about the reveal of the new Apple Watch Pro and the recently released Samsung Galaxy Watch 5. But if you’re looking to get a new wearable without spending a mint, you can currently get the last-generation 40mm Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 for just $129 during the Discover Samsung flash sale for the next three hours. This promotion lasts from 12PM to 3PM ET and knocks 36 percent off the final price of any configuration of the 40mm or 44mm Samsung Galaxy Watch 4.While this model, unfortunately, lacks the physical rotating bezel, the Watch 4 still sports a touch interface that’s snappy and responsive, in addition to expanded third-party app support and an extensive suite of health tracking features. The Watch 4 is... Continue reading…

Let’s split this baby up. | Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge If you want to work with two apps, side by side, at the same time on a Mac computer, Split View is your friend. Sure, you could just resize the two apps manually yourself. But using Split View will do that automatically for you and save you some time.Another benefit of Split View is that it temporarily makes all of your other windows go away. That means you won’t accidentally click off your windows and have other things popping up to cover them up. If you need to access something else, you can simply exit Split View (which we’ll also show you how to do below).Here’s how to use Split View on a MacBook.How to use Split View on a MacBookTo use Split View, you will need to be using two apps that support Split View on macOS. A lot of... Continue reading…

Jessica Williams as Meadow and Scott Mescudi as Jabari. | Image: Netflix Though the title and visual language of Netflix’s Entergalactic from Kenya Barris kind of makes it sound and look like a certain spider-themed sci-fi epic, the animated television event is actually a story of romance inspired by co-creator Kid Cudi’s upcoming studio album by the same name.Entergalactic tells the tale of how up-and-coming artist Jabari (Scott Mescudi) finds himself falling head over heels in love with his new neighbor Meadow (Jessica Williams) shortly after moving into his new digs with plans to try life out as a bachelor. Being newly out of a relationship with his ex-girlfriend Carmen (Laura Harrier), the prospect of jumping right into a new situationship gives Jabari some amount of pause. But the trailer makes it... Continue reading…

Chevrolet dealers are on the front lines in the multi-billion-dollar push to court mainstream car buyers. | Photo by Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge Chevrolet won’t follow its sister brands Cadillac and Buick in offering buyouts to dealers who don’t want to make the necessary investments to upgrade to electric vehicles, Scott Bell, global vice president, told The Verge.In fact, the dealers who do elect to take buyouts from Cadillac and Buick could end up exclusively selling Chevy vehicles, which Bell argues is good for his brand.“The minute they pull back and say, ‘You know what, I’m not ready to go all in for those brands,’ they’re now 100 percent a Chevy dealer, which is a good thing for Chevrolet,” Bell said at a pop-up event in Manhattan celebrating the unveiling of the 2024 Chevy Equinox EV.“they’re now 100 percent a Chevy dealer, which is a good thing for Chevrolet”Last... Continue reading…

The lock screen is the centerpiece of what iOS 16 brings to your iPhone. | Photo by David Pierce / The Verge Apple’s trying to turn your phone into more than just a bunch of apps Continue reading…

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge If you’ve struggled to justify buying Apple’s AirPods Max at their usual $420-plus price (at Apple, they’re still $549), head over to Woot and check out this deal on refurbished models that cost just $369.99. You can choose between space gray, sky blue, and green, each of which Woot says are “Apple Certified Reconditioned” and have “no visible scratches or blemishes and appear practically brand new!” Though, as is usually the case, the warranty for these refurbished headphones isn’t as good as buying new ones. You’ll get 90 days instead of a full year.While still pricier in refurbished condition than some of our other top picks for noise-canceling headphones new-in-box, there are some good reasons why you may want to opt for the AirPods... Continue reading…

Carrot 5.8 will introduce widgets to your lock screen, saving you from opening your phone to check the weather. | Image: Carrot Carrot Weather — an app known for its humorous, antagonistic approach to weather updates — is introducing some new features that take advantage of Apple’s iOS 16 release for iPhones today, including lock screen widgets and Apple Weather data integration. There’s also a new multi-column redesign for the iPad.Some of the features listed will only be available to members of the Premium Club, which costs $4.99 per month or $19.99 per year. The Carrot App is otherwise free to download for iOS and Android devices. Image: Carrot Lock screen widgets will bring helpful weather updates as well as Carrot’s usual injection of humor. Weather updates on Carrot version 5.8 will now be available as customizable lock screen... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Nintendo’s next Direct showcase will take place tomorrow, September 13th. The Nintendo Direct will be broadcast at 7AM PT / 10AM ET tomorrow morning and will include “roughly 40 minutes of information mostly focused on Nintendo Switch games launching this winter.”Forty minutes is plenty of time to detail this year’s Switch releases, but it also leaves room for more details on the sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The still-unnamed sequel was originally set for a 2022 release date, but it got delayed to spring 2023 earlier this year. Most of the details about the game are still shrouded in mystery, and tomorrow might be a good time for Nintendo to at least provide us with a name for Link’s next big adventure.

The iPhone 14 Plus. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge A battery replacement on the iPhone 14 will cost you $30 more than previous models (via 9to5Mac). The cost estimator on Apple’s iPhone battery service page says replacing the battery on any iPhone 14 model runs $99, a fairly steep increase from the $69 price for past generations (except the iPhone SE, which has battery replacement priced at $49 across the board).Apple still hasn’t revealed the battery capacity in the iPhone 14, Plus, Pro, and Pro Max models but vaguely touts that it comes with the company’s “longest battery life ever.” However, we do get a glimpse of what to expect in a filing on the hazardous materials database, Chemtrec, spotted by 9to5Mac. Image: Emma Roth / The Verge Battery replacement on... Continue reading…

Lutron’s new Caséta Diva smart dimmer and smart switch sport a more traditional look. | Image: Lutron Lutron Caséta has added two new smart switches to its lineup. The switches are modeled on its existing non-smart “Diva” paddle switch style, giving its distinctive smart switch line a more traditional look. Lutron Caséta is probably one of the most reliable DIY smart lighting systems available today; it uses a proprietary protocol powered by Lutron’s smart hub rather than Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.The new $69.95 Diva smart dimmer is a wired paddle switch with a toggle slider for dimming, and the $59.95 Claro smart switch is a standard wired on-off switch. Both products look like traditional paddle switches, and other than a small LED light, there’s nothing to single them out as “smart.” As with the existing Caseta smart dimmer, the new Diva... Continue reading…

Meta Quest Pro | Image: Ramiro Cardenas Images and, later, a video of a “Meta Quest Pro” virtual reality (VR) headset surfaced online, posted on Facebook by Ramiro Cardenas, who claims the device was left in a hotel room (Thanks, Peter! via Reddit). The device shown resembles the Project Cambria headset Meta has been publicly teasing since late last year and looks like the one spotted in leaked setup videos.The video (embedded above) shows Cardenas removing the device from its packaging, revealing a black headset and controller with what looks like an updated design. While the headset has three cameras on its front, the controllers feature a design that drops the hollowed-out loop design that houses the sensors for something more solid.The packaging has the “Meta Quest Pro”... Continue reading…

The Roku OS 11.5 update is coming soon. | Image: Roku Roku is mostly leaving its hardware lineup untouched for the fall — with a couple exceptions. Today, the company is introducing an enhanced Roku Express that now includes dual-band Wi-Fi for more robust, dependable streaming performance. Still priced at $29.99, the device is available for preorder now and will be in stores on October 16th.The Express is Roku’s introductory streaming device and accordingly sticks to 1080p quality; you need to move up to the Roku Express 4K Plus — which already includes dual-band connectivity — if you want to watch 4K / Ultra HD content. The basic Express comes with Roku’s simplest remote, so you’ll need to use the company’s mobile app if you want to use the private listening feature with connected... Continue reading…

Now, it’s called Zoom Team Chat. Big difference. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Many of us have been on a lot of Zoom calls during the pandemic, but you might not know that Zoom also has its very own Slack- and Microsoft Teams-esque product called Zoom Chat. On Monday, Zoom announced a small change to the name of the product — it’s now called Zoom Team Chat — alongside a handful of other handy updates coming to the collaboration software.Let’s start with the name change. Zoom is adding “Team” because customers were getting confused about the difference between the chat you can use in Zoom meetings with the separate communication suite. Renaming the product to Zoom Team Chat “helps make the distinction that it is a full collaborative hub product,” Sharvari Nerurkar, Zoom Team Chat’s head of product, said in an... Continue reading…

Tesla doesn’t need to prove that its Full Self-Driving system is safer than human driving before releasing it to the public. But what if it did? | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Would a European-style regulatory system improve safety? Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge At least one of Intel’s forthcoming 13th-generation CPUs will be able to run at 6GHz at stock, Tom’s Hardware reports. The detail was shared in a slide onstage at Intel’s Technology Tour 2022, which also says it’ll be capable of hitting 8GHz when overclocked. Other improvements promised for this new generation, which is named Raptor Lake, include a 15 percent improvement in single-threaded performance, and a 41 percent improvement in multi-threaded performance.Intel’s 6GHz claim is a shot across the bow at competitor AMD, which recently said that its upcoming flagship 16-core Ryzen 9 7950X will be capable of boosting up to 5.7GHz. Although raw clock speeds aren’t the be all and end all when it comes to performance, breaking the 6GHz... Continue reading…

Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images Elon Musk has sent a third letter to Twitter attempting to terminate his $44 billion acquisition of the company. Musk’s legal team cited Twitter’s multimillion dollar severance payment to former security chief and whistleblower Peiter Zatko as a violation of the merger agreement and a reason to end the deal. The letter, dated September 9th, was sent to Twitter’s chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde, and was included in a filing Twitter made with the SEC on Friday (which you can read at the bottom of this article).Twitter responded to Musk and Co on Monday September 12th, saying, “As was the case with both your July 8, 2022 and August 29, 2022 purported notices of termination, the purported termination set forth in your September 9, 2022... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Football fans struggled to watch the first NFL Sunday Ticket game of the season due to issues with DirecTV’s website and app. While some users (including myself) reported seeing an error page when trying to access the Sunday Ticket website, others said they couldn’t even sign in.But that’s not all — users reported a range of other issues, too, with some getting locked out of the stream and receiving an error message that says they’re located in an NFL stadium and can’t watch the stream. It’s unclear what exactly caused the issues with the Sunday Ticket stream, which started several hours leading up to the game and continued throughout the afternoon.

Image: From Software Elden Ring developer FromSoftware is making the game’s music soundtrack available to stream online in case you want to relive Malenia’s boss fight more than you’ve already replayed it. As announced in a Playstation blog post, you can listen to the 67-track album on Spotify, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Apple Music, and more (you can view the whole list of services here).I, for one, did not even realize that there were 67 different songs in Elden Ring but maybe that was because I’ve been too busy yelling to notice the difference. The post also features an interview with FromSoftware lead sound design and composer Tsukasa Saito, who explains what actually went into making some of the game’s music, which is arguably one of the more... Continue reading…

Matternet’s Model M2 drone delivering for the Swiss Post. | Photo by Pier Marco Tacca/Getty Images Matternet has received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for its Model M2 drone delivery drone design. In a press release, Matternet explains that the Model M2 is the first non-military unmanned aircraft to achieve Type Certification by the FAA, which determines that an aircraft’s design meets regulatory standards.The California-based Matternet has been testing its Model M2 drone over the past four years in the US as part of the FAA’s Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) program. Matternet says getting the green light from the FAA could help streamline the process of “implementing new networks and getting approvals.” Image: Matternet Matternet’s Model M2 delivery drone. Matternet partnered with... Continue reading…

Image: Alex Castro / The Verge Comcast plans on bringing multi-gig internet speeds to 34 cities across the US by the end of this year, and will later expand its reach to more than 50 million households by the end of 2025. According to a press release, the company has already started rolling out 2-gig speeds over its broadband network in Colorado Springs, CO; Augusta, GA; Panama City Beach, FL; and Philadelphia, PA.Customers in these cities will also get to take advantage of upload speeds that Comcast says are five to 10 times faster than what it currently offers. The upload speeds appear to max out at 200Mbps, even with the new Gigabit x2 plan, but Comcast intends to change that. It’s launching multi-gig symmetrical speeds next year, which will enable multi-gig... Continue reading…

Image: Ubisoft Ubisoft shared a ton of information on the projects, known and never-before-seen, during its Ubisoft Forward event. Here are the highlights.Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of HopeUbisoft showed off new gameplay footage of the latest installment in the Mario + Rabbids franchise. We got a deeper look at the world of Tera Flora where Mario, Peach, Luigi, and their weird-ass Rabbid counterparts work together to bring down a corrupted wiggler train. The gameplay trailer emphasizes synergy and teamwork, in which combining each character’s unique powers unleash devastating attacks. Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope launches on the Nintendo Switch on October 20th.Skull and BonesThe release of Skull and Bones, Ubisoft’s open-world pirate adventure... Continue reading…

Assassin’s Creed Mirage. | Image: Ubisoft After a string of leaks, Ubisoft has officially unveiled the next major Assassin’s Creed game. As expected, it’s called Mirage and will shift the time-traveling series to 9th-century Baghdad, where players will take on the role of a budding assassin named Basim. (Fans might remember that name from an appearance in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla; Mirage takes place two decades before that game.)Notably, Ubisoft says that the game will get back to the action-adventure roots of the series, which means that the RPG mechanics from more recent games will not be present. Mirage is expected to launch sometime in 2023. Also of note: in an inspired bit of casting, Shohreh Aghdashloo will be voicing the role of Basim’s assassination mentor.But that’s... Continue reading…

Samuel L. Jackson in Secret Invasion | Image: Marvel Disney held its semiannual D23 event this weekend, where it showed off a whole lot of trailers, teasers, and brief scenes from all the Disney stuff coming this year and next. Particular attention was paid to shows and films coming to Disney Plus, and new entries in its Star Wars and Marvel franchises.A ticket and in-person attendance were required to see some of the coolest sneak previews, which means you’ll probably have to wait to get your first look at Ironheart, Indiana Jones, or Ant-Man and Wasp: Quantumania. But the company still took the time to drop a few teasers and trailers for the rest of us.WillowThe sequel to the 1988 film about a wizard who few believe in, yet who saves the world from an evil sorceress with the help of... Continue reading…

The Mandalorian S3 teaser trailer | Image: Disney / Lucasfilm Disney showed off a teaser trailer for the third season of The Mandalorian at its D23 event on Saturday. While we don’t have an exact date for when the series will arrive on Disney Plus, the streamer previously said it will premiere in February 2023.This is our first glimpse at the show’s upcoming third season and showed off not only Pedro Pascal’s title character, The Mandalorian, and his Force-using charge, but other familiar characters like Katee Sackhoff as Bo-Katan, Carl Weathers as Greef Karga, Omid Abtahi as Dr. Pershing, Emily Swallow as The Armorer, and Amy Sedaris as Peli Motto.Disney released season two back in 2020, which has left those of us who already completed the first two seasons waiting a whole two years to see more... Continue reading…

During the D23 Expo on Saturday, Lucasfilm revealed the final trailer for the Star Wars: Andor series that takes place before the events of the 2016 Rogue One film. Diego Luna will once again take on the role of the titular Cassian Andor, with the show set to follow his journey from a thief to a rebel.Andor arrives on Disney Plus with a three-episode premiere on September 21st. Its first season is supposed to have 12 episodes in total, but we don’t know the release schedule for these episodes just yet.Lucasfilm also teased its animated series of shorts, Tales of the Jedi, which debuts on Disney Plus on October 23rd. It also announced a January 4th, 2023 release date for the second season of its Clone Wars spinoff, The Bad Batch.D... Continue reading…

The second-gen AirPods (left), second-gen AirPods Pro (middle), and third-gen AirPods (right). | Image: Apple At its “Far Out” event on Wednesday, Apple introduced a new pair of AirPods Pro alongside the upcoming iPhone 14 lineup and long-rumored Apple Watch Ultra. The second-gen AirPods Pro are set to arrive on September 23rd, bringing with them a new H2 chip that Apple claims should cancel “up to twice as much noise” as its predecessor, as well as swipe-based controls and a number of other features.This means that, as of this week, the official AirPods lineup consists of the following models: the second-gen AirPods, the third-gen AirPods, the second-gen AirPods Pro, and the AirPods Max. Also, while Apple no longer sells them, you can also still buy the first-gen AirPods Pro from a number of retailers, including Amazon, Walmart, and Target.T... Continue reading…

The 2021 iPad Mini might be considered the middle child, but it’s still plenty capable. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Apple’s new iPhone lineup may have grabbed everyone's attention, but our weekend deals post is fixed on everything Apple ignored during its “Far Out” event earlier this week. For starters, Apple’s 64GB iPad Mini with Wi-Fi is currently matching its best price ever at Amazon and Best Buy, where you can pick it up for $399.99 ($100 off). If you need more storage, you can also find the 256GB model with Wi-Fi discounted to $549.99 at Amazon and Best Buy, down from its usual price of $799.99.The 2021 iPad Mini brings several welcome changes to Apple’s smallest tablet, including a larger screen that ditches the home button and replaces Apple’s Lightning connector with a USB-C port. In addition, the Mini features an 8.3-inch display, 2266 x... Continue reading…

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Google has just rolled out the first Android 13 quarterly platform release beta, and developers have already uncovered code that hints at a pair of upcoming devices: the rumored Pixel foldable and a new “Pro” tablet (via Android Police).In a thread on Twitter, developer Kuba Wojciechowski shares screencaps of code that refers to the unfolded and folded states of a device called “Felix.” It mentions the cameras that the device uses as well, which may include a 64-megapixel (MP) Sony IMX787 primary sensor and a 10.8MP Samsung S5K3J1 telephoto lens on the back of the phone. The device could also house an 8MP Sony IMX355 sensor (the same one used by the Pixel 6A) on the inside and another Samsung S5K3J1 around the front.

The always-on display is a great addition to iPhone’s arsenal of features. But it’s not new. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge For some reason, people like to take sides on things that really don’t need to have sides at all. You’re a fan of iPhones? Cool. You’re more comfortable with Android phones? Use it in good health.But we live in a competitive society, and so the one company that produces iOS-based phones and the myriad brands that make Android-based phones always feel that they need to explain why their product is more spectacular, more flexible, more secure, more fun, and more whatever than the ones powered by the other OS. As a result, whenever a company introduces a feature that’s new to its OS, it proclaims it as innovative, wonderful, and never seen before. Anyone who has attended or watched a product introduction — from Apple, Google, or Samsung —... Continue reading…

My favorite garbage-bot. | Photo illustration by William Joel / The Verge WALL-E, Pixar’s 2008 masterpiece, is being added to the Criterion Collection, a curated list of movies that are deemed to be “important classic and contemporary films.” Its induction means that the movie is getting a special-edition 4K Blu-ray release, which comes with a bunch of extras.It’s not the first time the film’s been available in 4K, but — and I’m sorry for being this person — the box art for the Criterion version is just so much better than the standard 4K Blu-ray’s, in my opinion. It may also have a slightly better HDR master (it comes with Dolby Vision HDR and HDR10 Plus versions, vs standard HDR10 for the regular release), and its three-disc set includes things like a student film made by director Andrew Stanton, a d... Continue reading…

A screenshot of a Yankees game in my camera roll. But here’s what the TV experience could look like. | Image: Andrew Marino Apple introduced the rugged Apple Watch Ultra this week — with a bigger, brighter 49mm screen, an additional hardware button, a bigger battery, and better speakers — made for more extreme outdoor conditions. But I believe the $800 smartwatch can be used another way: to watch TV.Wait, wait, wait, hear me out; it’s not a new idea. In 1982, Japanese watchmaker Seiko debuted a wristwatch that could receive UHF and VHF channels, albeit the actual receiver was in a huge belt pack you had to connect to the LCD screen on your wrist. The idea never really caught on (besides in the James Bond film Octopussy), but it introduced an exciting and futuristic television experience we still haven’t nailed yet. Image: Seiko The... Continue reading…

Don’t drop it! But if you do, it’s not the end of the world. | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge If you’re the kind of person who’s always dropping your phone, AppleCare Plus may have just become a much better deal. As MacRumors points out, the service now covers “unlimited repairs for accidental damage protection.” According to an archived version of the AppleCare Plus page from last month, you used to be limited to “two incidents of accidental damage protection every 12 months.”Before you toss your phone in the air in celebration, though, do note that the service fees and deductibles are still around — a screen or back glass repair will cost $29, while “other accidental damage” will run you $99. Also, Apple’s fine print clearly notes that the damage has to be caused by “unexpected and unintentional events” to fall under... Continue reading…

If you don’t want to take apart your own Steam Deck, Valve’s new repair centers can do it for you. | Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge If something’s broken with your Steam Deck and you don’t want to try to fix it yourself, Valve now has a new option for you: you can send your handheld gaming PC to one of the company’s new repair centers to get it fixed.Repairs for anything that’s covered by the Steam Deck’s warranty (which is one year in the US) will be free, Valve says. If your device is out of warranty, the company will offer to fix it up for a cost. If you don’t want to pay that fee, you can decline the repair and ask to have your Steam Deck sent back.

Joining iPadOS in being pushed back | Image: Apple Apple is delaying the release of iOS 16’s iCloud Shared Photo Library feature, saying it’s “coming later this year” instead of when the mobile operating system refresh launches on September 12th (via AppleInsider). An archived version of the iOS 16 webpage shows the notice about the delay was added sometime this week.When it does launch, the feature will let you and up to five other people automatically share a collection of photos, with the option of including all the photos in your personal library, photos from after a specific date, or that include specific people.It’s not particularly unusual for Apple to withhold features from the initial release — last year, iOS 15 launched without SharePlay, Universal Control, and better Find... Continue reading…

This new game with Captain America and Black Panther doesn’t yet have a name, but I definitely want to play it. | Image: Skydance Disney just wrapped up its Disney and Marvel Games Showcase at D23, and the event was packed with news and announcements about games from the entertainment company’s many franchises. The show was a lightning-fast deluge of trailers for a wide variety of games, including titles that are out right now, like Disney Dreamlight Valley, and ones that are a bit farther off.Here’s a rundown of some of the biggest news from the show. And if you want to watch the 23-minute showcase in full, you can catch it on Marvel’s YouTube channel.Tron Identity is a new visual novel from the maker of Thomas Was Alone Image: Bithell Games I didn’t know I wanted a Tron visual novel, but now I REALLY want it. Disney revealed a... Continue reading…

iPhone 14 Pro trades the notch for a Dynamic Island | Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Every Wednesday and Friday, The Verge publishes our flagship podcast, The Vergecast, where our editors make sense of the week’s most important technology news. On Fridays, Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel, editor-at-large David Pierce, and managing editor Alex Cranz discuss the week in tech news with the reporters and editors covering the biggest stories.This week, Apple held its annual hardware event at the Steve Jobs Theater, debuting new iPhones, new Apple Watches, and new AirPods Pro. Nilay and David were able to attend the event in person and get a hands-on look at the new products. The crew discussed everything that happened at the event, first impressions of the phones and watches, and their expectations for Apple’s features in... Continue reading…

Instagram users would reshare posts onto their feeds. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge If you can believe it, Instagram is testing a new feature that mimics other social networks. TechCrunch reports Instagram confirmed tests of “reposts” to bring someone else’s content onto your own timeline. It’s similar to Twitter’s retweets or the kind of reshares that are common on Tumblr and Facebook and are also in testing on TikTok.TechCrunch writes the “repost” feature was spotted by Matt Navarra, a social media consultant who posted images in a Twitter thread on Wednesday. However, Alessandro Paluzzi noticed it in development back in May, showing Instagram has been working on it for a while.

Image: Apple One of the new features of iOS 16, and something that was again highlighted during Apple’s event on Wednesday, is personalized spatial audio. Once you’ve installed the latest iOS release on your iPhone beginning September 12th, you’ll be able to create a custom sound profile that should improve the sense of immersion and overall spatial audio experience you get from AirPods.To produce this personalized tuning, Apple uses the iPhone’s front-facing TrueDepth camera to scan your ears. The process, which involves holding your iPhone about 10 to 20 centimeters from the side of your head, takes under a minute, and the resulting data is then used to optimize spatial audio for your unique ear shape. “The way we all perceive sound is unique,... Continue reading…

President Biden speaks in Ohio following the groundbreaking ceremony for Intel’s new $20 billion semiconductor plant. | Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images President Joe Biden traveled to Ohio on Friday to celebrate the groundbreaking of Intel’s new $20 billion semiconductor plant, one of the first domestic chip-making facilities to come out of the recently passed CHIPS and Science Act.Intel’s Friday groundbreaking ceremony kicked off construction of what the company has called the “largest silicon manufacturing location on the planet.” It’s part of Intel’s plans to invest $100 billion in Ohio over the next 10 years. The company has said that the project could take more than 7,000 workers to build the facility that is expected to house two separate factories and, once finished, employ 3,000 workers.“We need to make these chips right here in America to bring down everyday costs and create... Continue reading…

Lestat and Louis are the masters but Claudia runs the show. | AMC On October 2nd, the TV adaptation of Interview with the Vampire will debut on AMC Plus, and it’s got a new trailer. It further highlights the big departures from the source material and features the exquisite torment of the show’s protagonist, vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac.This is the second trailer for Interview, and it presents a luxurious and sumptuous tale centered on desire, seduction, and, ultimately, betrayal.In this adaptation, Louis de Pointe du Lac (Jacob Anderson) is a Black entrepreneur in 1910s New Orleans. The trailer hops between Louis’ memories of the past and the present day, in which he spills his guts to Daniel Molloy, a journalist played by Eric Bogosian. Louis tells Daniel his tale about being hunted by the... Continue reading…